To Become a Better Listener

Day 1 and 2

Listening is not the same as hearing. Listening requires a conscious effort and skillful manipulation of hearing. Hearing is simply the physical process of letting in sound waves and focusing upon it. It is important to evaluate your current listening skills and methods. When I listen I usually have a subject or certain thing that I am listening for in mind. I start out by filtering certain words that catch my attention or it could be a group of people that have my interests. If it's a sales clerk I am listening to information that may save me money. If it's a normal person on the street I could be looking for things about how to make money or personal humor and drama. If it's a relative I listen to family news or any exciting adventures. A teacher may give me hints or potential topics and questions that will be covered on an upcoming test. Based on that information I feel that I prefer a content-centered listening style, which is associated with people who focus on facts and details. A time-centered listening style is associated with people who want messages to be given in a timely manner. I think that everyone would agree it is important to deliver a message succinctly (West & Turner, 2011, pp. 196-211).

To become a better listener, I will first need to improve upon all four of the individual components that make up the four "Rs" of listening. First I will need to practice the concept of receiving, which is the verbal and nonverbal acknowledgment that I have received a message. Next comes recalling, which is remembering the essence of a message. After that comes rating, which involves rating the message. Finally, responding is giving feedback to the other communicator. Improving upon my multitasking skills would be an ultimate goal. Since multitasking involves performing multiple tasks simultaneously, it would save me a lot of precious time. I believe this is possible due to the working memory theory, which suggests that we can pay attention to multiple stimuli and simultaneously store it for future reference.

Day 3 and 4

I noticed that people really do not start to listen until they are done with what they have in their mind to say. We could be agreeing on the same things or beyond the subject of what we are talking about, but they must first finish their thought.